Mental Health Awareness Week 14th May - 20th May 2018

May 14th - May 20th 2018 is Mental Health Awareness Week. Over recent years more and more people have begun to talk about mental ill health and so the stigma does seem to be starting to change. However, it can still be difficult for people to know how best to support a loved one when they are struggling. You don't have to know all the answers. Mental health doesn't come as one size fits all.

Everyone is different so the best way to support someone is to find out what support they might need. Even if you can't understand how that person is feeling you can respect them enough to listen without judgement.

So what helps?
Kind words of encouragement and listening to what someone has to say about how it feels to them rather than making assumptions about how they might feel is really important. When someone feels low, they don't expect you to fix the problem and you don't always have to come up with a solution. Instead, being an ear to listen and asking them what they need from you, without judgement, can help people feel more able to share how they feel. Mental ill health can be really isolating, we can pull away from people we care about and friends and family can assume this is rudeness or being unsociable, In fact often, we might want very much to join in but feel trapped and helpless in being unable. Therefore, helping a person see how important they are in your life and how much you care about them can help to prevent this isolation. Even if your friend always says no, invite them anyway but always respect how they feel. Or maybe you could spend time with them on the sofa over a movie. Remind them that they are never a burden and in fact you want to help and to listen. Stay in touch, even if you don't see your friend in person, simple texts to say that you are thinking of them can leave connections open. Be honest, it's OK to say that you don't understand but it's important to be open to learning. Encouraging and supporting healthy choices like good food and exercise can be helpful - not forcing someone to leave the house but offering to support them when they do. Recognising the small steps someone makes to feel better and reminding them of their achievements is really supportive. Highlighting times when they have been unable to get out of bed is not. This is never about laziness.

Creativity can play a huge part in mental well health. How about making a comfort/ distraction box for a loved one ( a box of photos, music, books, treats ) that they can access to remind them of the good things in life. Maybe creating a photo book about all the times they have overcome adversity might be useful. Perhaps buying them their own scrapbook and pencils to create a journal, encouraging them to keep mementos of good times might help. What about writing a letter that reminds them of how thankful you are to have them in your life or you could go for a walk together and notice the sights and sounds in nature. There are many ideas that keep us connected.

Remember mental ill health is something that can affect anyone, at any time, from any class, background or culture. Physical ill health affects or bodies, mental ill health affects our minds and the two are connected. We don't have to show that we are ill on on the outside to feel ill on the inside.

In simple terms, we must always be kind, be thoughtful, be accepting and be loving and then we really can't go wrong.

https://www.mind.org.uk/workplace/mental-health-awareness-week-2018